Vegas is betting on Brooklyn to struggle, finishing barely over .500. Some advanced analytics say they’ll be a losing team.
Spencer Dinwiddie? He’s talking title contention, no matter when injured star Kevin Durant comes back — and more and more the word around NBA circles is that could be this season.
The Nets hosted a back-to-school party at Barclays Center on Saturday for about 100 kids from MS 354, and one asked Dinwiddie if he felt his much-improved team would bring home an NBA title.
“He asked if I think the Brooklyn Nets will win a championship. Now, listen here: I don’t make guarantees. But of course I do. … KD is the best player in the league, right?” Dinwiddie said, giving Durant that title over the likes of LeBron James or reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Then later, in a quiet moment after the event, he added to The Post, “It has a chance to be a very, very special season.”
Just how special depends on how quickly they jell. Sure, they’ve added Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan. But they lost leaders in DeMarre Carroll, Ed Davis and Jared Dudley.
Westgate set Brooklyn’s win total at 44, a modest sixth in the East. Meanwhile, FiveThirtyEight’s projections had them at just 38-44. Dinwiddie acknowledged what kind of chemistry develops from their potentially-volatile mix will determine their season.
“We’re definitely going to improve. We added talent across the board. But it all depends on chemistry and cohesiveness. That’s always the trouble, that’s always the elephant in the room, right?” Dinwiddie said. “Last year we were able to come together, even with injuries and in some cases kind of galvanizing the group in a sense.
“We’ve obviously added a ton more talent across the board. We’re a more talented team. But if we don’t come together then it doesn’t matter. That’s our job as a unit. And if we do, then yeah, of course, you want to contend for a title. You don’t put together a roster like this and not want to do that. We just signed the best player in the world.”That, of course, was a reference to Durant, who ruptured his Achilles tendon on June 10. Once the death knell for athletes’ careers, players are returning from Achilles tears in better fashion than before.
NFL receiver Emmanuel Sanders came back in just eight months and has been on fire with 16 catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns in just two games. For Durant, eight months — the same timeframe Kobe Bryant took — would mean a February return, which is not out of the question.
Though Nets GM Sean Marks refused to rule Durant out for the season, the feeling within the league is trending toward him potentially playing this season.
“I know KD is taking the rehab process ultra-serious. He wants to come back as soon as it’s appropriate, and healthy and the right decision for him, and then also subsequently that would also be the right decision for,” said Dinwiddie, who points out that even a slightly-diminished Durant could still be a superstar.
“The beautiful part about this is, the man is 7-foot and one of the best shooters of all time. At worst you get Dirk [Nowitzki], and Dirk was a monster. So we’re ready for him to come back whenever he wants to and whenever he’s ready to do so, and we know that he’s going to be a phenomenal major piece of our roster.”
New Nets CEO David Levy told The Post that Durant’s comeback is something the team could even chronicle.
“When you start thinking about the Kevin Durant comeback story and filming that, just opportunities,” Levy said.